Taking Stock

Taking Stock

Pairing: Tony/Jack

Fandom: NCIS, Eureka

WARNINGS: no warnings yet

Summary:

Tony was done. He had hit his limit and there was just nothing else to say about it.

It wasn’t a slow dawning process or anything of that sort — at least not from his point of view. Surely, it must be from an outsider’s, but to him it was like a punch to the gut.

~~~

Tony was done. He had hit his limit and there was just nothing else to say about it.

It wasn’t a slow dawning process or anything of that sort — at least not from his point of view. Surely, it must be from an outsider’s, but to him it was like a punch to the gut.

He sat back and stared at the city he had been calling home for a decade now and realized that he would have no issue just packing up and moving on. Sure, there were a few local people he had made friends with: neighbors, shop owners, the basketball team at the Y. But technology was a wonderful thing and made keeping in touch very easy. All he had to do was set up an Abby and McGee-proof account.

Well, he had to set up an account and then make it clear that whomever he handed it out to would not share it with anyone, no matter what they said to them.

He was through with having his privacy violated simply for the fact that he was “Just Tony.” It had pinged his radar that his teammates knew too much about his purchasing habits or his whereabouts when he knew that he hadn’t been completely specific with them about his weekend plans, but there were cases and he was more concerned with finding leads than reporting insubordination that would just be countermanded by Gibbs.

Tony had long learned that Gibbs would just sweep any write ups away. That didn’t mean, though, that Tony stopped writing them up. He knew how to cover his own ass; he wasn’t an idiot. He just didn’t put any stock in anything being done about the complaints. And it wasn’t like Vance would do anything either, or that Vance wouldn’t take it right to Gibbs.

At this point, Tony was pretty sure the only way to get anything heard and taken seriously was to take it straight to the FBI with a copy sent to the SecNav. And when he took it to the FBI, he would make sure that it went nowhere near Fornell, for there lay another direct route to Gibbs.

Tony sighed. How close had he come to completely losing sight of his own set of morals and his personal line? Had he already crossed it?

It didn’t matter, it was time to get out. A friend of his was helping him keep track of how many times his accounts were accessed illegally and his home security was changed so that the next time someone tried to break in they would be arrested. Maybe this weekend he should — under an alias, of course — move anything that he doesn’t use daily into storage in preparation of a move, just in case he needs to do it quickly. Yes, that would be smart. And a new burn phone to call Jack with, because if anyone could give him excellent advice, it would be Jack Carter.

~~

 

Sheriff Jack Carter was strolling towards Cafe Diem when his phone rang with an unknown number. Taking a chance, he answered anyway leaning against a wall so as to not be in anyone’s way.

“Sheriff Carter.”

“Hey there, Jack. Got some time to give an old friend some advice?”

In no way was Jack expecting to hear from Tony DiNozzo. While they were pretty close, they kept their calls to holidays and birthdays, considering both their busy and unpredictable schedules. Something must really be wrong for him to be calling out of the blue like this.

“Always have time for you, buddy. Talk away.” Jack pulled away from the wall and started back towards his office where he could have at least a semblance of privacy. “What’s going on?”

“I already know that I am going to move on, it’s time to get out of dodge. I’ve set things in motion to have most of my things put in storage so that if need be I can move at a moments notice.” Jack did not like the sound of that. “But I have no idea where I want to go. I haven’t actually put in my notice yet, nor been fishing around for a position. The moment I do, I know that my lovely coworkers will do their best to sabotage any chance I have of getting the job I want.”

Jack could hear the weary sigh through the phone. “Is that the reason for the call on a burn phone? At least, I assume this is a burn phone?”

“Yeah, I’ve found that they’ve been snooping into my financials, my phone records — you name it, they’ve violated it. I don’t trust them with my six in the field at all. There’s this urgent need to get out before they get me killed.”

“Then you need to get the hell out of there.” Jack was silent for a moment, extremely worried for his friend. Tony was there for him when his marriage was falling apart, when everyone had sided with his ex-wife — he was his anchor for a long while. He owed him this, to help him escape what seemed to be a very bad spot. “What you need is to secure the new posting before the old one is over. Maybe have the new supersede the old one. Any job offers from DEA? ATF? Homeland?” Jack was starting to get an idea of exactly where Tony’s next job could be.

“The problem is that the deputy director at Homeland is Tom Morrow, a friend of Gibbs — so you know he’ll run right to Gibbs. And the FBI, well, unless I can get someone who doesn’t owe Gibbs a favor or Fornell one — and really, they’ve attempted to frame me for murder a few too many times for me to feel comfortable with that. And I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable at the CIA. DEA and ATF wouldn’t be able to trump NCIS procedures.”

“Okay, what about the DIA, AFOSI, DoD?”

“I have received offers from all of those, yes. I guess I need to reach out, see what is still on offer. But first — Jesus, Jack — first I need to get in to see the SecNav and show him everything that’s been swept under the rug by Vance and Gibbs.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been trying to do my best to make sure nothing gets thrown out of court by Gibbs cowboy antics and Ziva’s complete disregard for silly things like laws, McGee and Abby’s careless hacking without a warrant simply because Gibbs asks them to. It’s all a mess. I’ve reported all of it because someone has to, and I’ve made sure that the evidence used to catch the criminals is above board, but it’s exhausting. I’m tired of playing babysitter. I’m better than that.”

“Yeah, you really are.” They both let the silence sit for a few moments.

“Listen, do you need some help getting in to see the SecNav? I know some people that could help you out.”

“Uh, yeah, actually.” Tony sounded relieved. “I’m afraid that if I ask then it will get back to Gibbs or Vance in a split second.”

“No problem, I’ll call you back in a little while. Keep this phone on you.”

“You got it, thanks. I mean it, Jack, thank you.”

~~

 

The weekend’s arrival was the saving of Tony’s sanity. He hadn’t heard back from Jack on anything specific other than someone would be showing up Friday evening and helping him get to the SecNav on the DL. He had placed the burn phone in a hidden safe that was checked every night for texts and then put away again to ensure that it was never accidentally discovered. Last night Tony had found a message from Jack waiting for him: “General Mansfield will be meeting you at Blues Alley, 8:30pm.” There was a picture, too, so that nothing would be left to chance.

The moment Tony left the office on Friday he breathed a sigh of relief. The toxicity level in that bullpen was at an all time high, and he had suspicions that there was some attempt going to be made again to break into his home, what with all the questions about his weekend plans. He made up some story about having plans to be out Saturday night, just to see if they take the bait. It was a good thing that he managed to get all of his stuff moved out during the week instead of waiting for the weekend like he had originally planned, this way if things went right tonight with the SecNav, he could disappear quickly.  Although he dearly wished he could be there when the idiots got themselves arrested.

Blues Alley was always a good place to relax to some quality jazz, but Tony had a feeling they wouldn’t be staying there long. About five minutes after taking a seat at the bar, he spotted the General making his way over.

“Tony, how are you?” Mansfield asked, as if they’d known each other for years.

Tony could play this game for whoever was watching. No use tipping anyone off that that this guy was here to do him a favor.

“Good, good. How’s it going with you? Sorry I wasn’t able to meet up last time you were in town.”

“It’s all right, I know the cases get first priority.” He ordered a drink for himself and they both settled in to listen to the rest of the set.

Once the band broke for a drink themselves, Mansfield signaled it was time to go. “You know the Mrs. will have my head if we stay much later. Something about how she’ll eat all the cake.”

“Oh, hell no! She makes the best red velvet anywhere, and I am not forfeiting my chance to have some. Let’s go, old man. Move it!” Tony responded, laughing.

They successfully made it out to the car and into a private space without it seeming like they were two complete strangers. Once the doors were closed Mansfield turned to him with a small grin, “That was nicely done, Agent DiNozzo. Once your conversation with Secretary Davenport is completed, I’d like to speak with you about a possible job offer.”

“Right. You know, I’m not really sure what job, exactly, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs would want to offer me.”

Mansfield just smiled and sat back in silence for the rest of the ride.